Tender structure



July 10, 1934. H. E LIPPERT 1,965,983

TENDER STRUCTURE Filed July 27. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

July 10, 1934. H. E. LIPPERT TENDER STRUCTURE Filed July 27. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet my a.

Patented July 10, 1934 PATENT OFFICE 1,965,983 TENDER STRUCTURE Henry E. Lippert, Baltimore, Md., .assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Standard Stoker Company, Incorporated, a corporation of Delaware Application July 27, 1931, Serial No. 553,298

4 Claims.

This invention relates to locomotive tenders having stoker tender units or conveyor troughs.

The present stoker tender unit comprises mainly, a trough hav-i-nga conveyor screw there- 15 in, a gear case at the rear of the trough having gears therein, and a drive shaft extending lengthwise of the trough. With such a structure the conveyor screw is driven at its rear end, which is advantageous. Driving the conveyor screw from its forward end requires complicated stoker conduit construction, additional gearing, and

extra shafts 'to make a practical and efficient construction.

It is-an object of this invention to provide in a locomotive tender, a stoker unit of the above character so that water stored in the tender will be in-contact with the trough and the trough will form a portion of the top wall of the water compartment, whereby the water capacity of the ".20 tender will be increased without increasing the over-all dimensions of the tender or diminishing the fuel space and still maintain a structure that is durable, light in weight, and inexpensive to manufacture;

Other objects, advantages and novel detail features will appear from the following description and appended claims, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a locomotive tender equipped with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a part-sectional elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 1, v

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 'of Fig. 1 illustrating the drive shaft compartment,

Figs. '4 and 5 are transverse sectional views similar to Fig. 3 and illustrating alternative constructions,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2 with the gear case cover removed,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken on line 77 of Fig. 1 showing the gear case compartment'at the rear of the trough, Fig. 8 is a fragmentary transverse view taken on'line 8-8 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 9 is a longitudinalsectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig.3 and Fig. 10 is a fragmentary transverse sectional View similar to Fig. 3 and illustrating an alternative construction.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the tender frame or base upon which the body portion of the tender is mounted. The body portion has sa water storage =compartment-or tank .2, a

fuel compartment or coal bunker 3, a deck 4, and the conventional bulkheads 22. The body portion of the tender is fabricated, it being for-med of separate plates or sheets which are rigidly secured together by riveting or Welding, as desirable, and with the use of angle iron. The body of the tender is provided with side sheets 23 that are turned inwardly at their lower ends and secured to the under side of the frame '1 ina manner whereby the space occupied by the frame will be communication with the water compartment so that the bottom of the frame and side sheets 23 forms the bottom of the water compartment and water can be carried in the frame.

The bulkheads 22 are arranged at the forward end of the tender, one being on each side of the center thereof. The water compartment and coal bunker are separated by side sloping par- 7 tition plates 17 and 24, and a rear sloping partition plate 25. Mounted longitudinally of the tender beneath the bunker and at the lower marginal portions of the side sloping partition plates 17 and 24 is a trough 5 having-a conveyor screw 6 therein for transferring fuel to the forward end of the tender, where other suitable conveying mechanism delivers it to the locomotive firebox. The trough is made of a plate which is bent to any desired shape and it is either secured to the side sloping partition plates 17 and 24 or upright plates 26 and 27. The trough is disposed in the water compartment and forms, with the side and rear sloping partition plates, the top wall of the forward portion of the water compartment.

The conveyor screw 6 is driven through gearing 28 and a shaft 7 longitudinal of the screw by power means (not shown) which may be mounted in any desirable manner or location upon either the locomotive or tender. The shaft 7, gearing 28 and the conveyor screw 6 are operatively connected together at the rear ends of the shaft and screw. Gearing 28 is enclosed in a case 29 provided with a detachable cover 30. The gear case 29 is secured to'the upright transverse wall 31'that is shown in the drawings as being a part of the rear sloping partition plate 25, but it may be separate therefrom. The transverse wall 31 closes the rear end of the trough and is separate therefrombut rigidly united therewith by means ofan angle iron 32. The trough is rigidly secured. at its forward end to an upright transversetwall33bymeans ofan angleiron 34. The angle :irons 32 and 34 are bent to-conform with the shape-of the trough.

Provided at the rear of the trough is a watertight housing or compartment 35 for inclosing and preventing water from being in contact with the gear case. It is formed of assembled plates comprising the upright transverse wall 31, a second upright wall or plate 36 which is spaced slightly rearward of the wall 31, and longitudinal upright side plates 37. The lower portion of the rear sloping partition plate 25 forms the top wall of the gear case compartment 35. An opening 38 in the tender frame facilitates repairing and replacement of parts to the gearing mechanism.

Integral with the tender frame and longitudinally along the center thereof are spaced 1on gitudinal sills 39, which are connected by a horizontal web 40, to which the upright plates 26 and 27 are secured. The upright plates 26 and 27 are arranged longitudinally of the trough and tender, between the frame and the trough and bunker, for supporting the trough and'bunker. The support plates 26 and 27 form, with the frame and trough, a water-tight compartment for housing the drive shaft 7 and preventing water from being in contact with the shaft.

Positioned in the trough at the forward end thereof is a wearing member 48 by which the conveyor screw is supported and upon which the screw rotates. The wearing member 48 may be replaced when unduly worn and it is unnecessary to replace the entire trough sheet because of frictional wear of the screw. Positioned in the trough over the forward end of the conveyor screw is a crusher 8. The lumps of coal are reduced to a size suitable for proper firing by being forced against the crusher as the coal is moved forward by the conveyor screw. The portions 9 and 10 of the sides of the trough 5 adjacent the crusher 8 taper inwardly (Fig. 1) to eliminate right-angled corners, thus preventing the probability of foreign matter clogging in a corner which could easily stop the conveyor screw from rotating.

The forward transverse wall 33 is positioned slightly rearward of the forward ends of the bulkheads 22 thereby forming an alcove 41 exterior of the water compartment between the bulkheads, the tender frame and the deck 4. A ball joint casting 42 is positioned in the alcove 41 and secured to theoutside surface of the forward transverse end wall 33 and surrounds the end of the conveyor screw that projects forward of the said wall. By providing the alcove 41, the ball joint casting can be positioned in line with or rearward of the front wall of the tender, whereby a relatively long intermediate stoker conduit can be inserted between the locomotive and tender, which is advantageous when the locomotive and tender negotiate curves. Cast integral with the ball joint casting 42 is a bearing 43 for supporting the forward end of the drive shaft 7.

In Figure 3 and Figure 5 a fuel support 11 is positioned longitudinal of the conveyor screw 6 immediately and directly above it and is made rigid with the tender and forms, with the side and rear sloping partition plates 17, 24 and 25, the floor of the bunker. The support 11 prevents the weight of the coal above the conveyor screw from binding and stopping the screw. In the floor of the bunker 3, at each side of the support 11 is an opening 12 and 13 by which the trough 5 is in communication with the bunker and through which coal can fall from the bunker into the trough. Brackets 14 and 15 are arranged transversely in the trough above the conveyor screw for bracing the support 11.

In Figure 3, the trough 5 is shown as being V- shaped in transverse section and the side sloping partition plates 17 and 24 form continuations of the sides of the trough.

Referring to Figure 4, the lower portion 16 of the side sloping partition plate 17 is directly above the conveyor screw and prevents the fuel from binding the screw the same as the support 11 in Figures 3 and 5. Instead of having an opening above and at each side of the conveyor screw, a single opening 18 is provided at one side of the'screw.

The sides 19 and 20 of the trough shown in Figure 5 are curved and a channel 21 is provided for the conveyor screw to rotate therein.

In Figure 10', the trough is rigidly secured to and suspended from the upright supports 44 and 45. Openings 46 in the supports 44 and 45 permit water to be in contact with the entire underside of the trough. The upper ends of the supports44 and 45 are attached to the lower margins of the side sloping partition plates 47 making a water-tight connection therewith. The trough is offset laterally on one side and the drive shaft is positioned wholly within the trough on the ofiset side thereof.

The trough, the transverse end walls 31 and. 33, the plates which form the gear case compartment and the upright longitudinal support plates are all separate from each other and mounted rigidly with and constitute apart of the fabricated tender body. Water-tight joints between the various parts may be made either by welding or riveting and with the use of angle iron, or some by welding and others by riveting. The above mentioned fabricated structure can be built in the tender body while the tender is under construction. Then, the only operations necessary to complete the stoker tender units are the bolting of the gear case 29 to the rear transverse end wall 31, inserting the conveyor screw 6 in the trough and coupling it to the gearing, bolting the crusher 8 and ball joint casting 42 to the forward transverse end wall 33, and providing the drive shaft 7.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a tender base, a fabricated body portion comprising fuel and water compartments including partition plates and a fuel trough at the lower marginal portions of said plates, said trough being disposed within the water compartment and forming a portion of the top wall thereof, a conveyor screw in the trough, gearing at the rear of the trough, and a drive shaft positioned wholly within the effective coal carrying confines of the trough longitudinal of said screw and operatively connected at its rear end with said gearing.

2. In combination with a tender base, a fabricated body portion comprising fuel and water compartments including partition plates and a fuel trough at the lower marginal portions of said plates, said trough constituting a part of the fabricated tender body and forming a portion of the top wall of the water compartment and having transverse end walls which are separate therefrom and rigidly united therewith, a conveyor screw in the trough, gearing at the rear of the trough, and a drive shaft positioned wholly within the trough longitudinal of said screw and operatively connected at its rear end with said gearing.

3. In combination with a tender base, a fabricated body portion comprising fuel and water compartments including partition plates and a ments including partition plates and a fuel trough at the lower marginal portions of said plates, said trough being disposed within the water compartment and forming a portion of the top wall thereof, a conveyor screw in the trough, gearing at the rear of the trough, and a drive shaft positioned wholly within the ef-; fective coal carrying confines of the trough longitudinal of said screw and operatively connected at its rear end with said gearing.

HENRY E. LIPPERT.

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